1. Field
The invention relates to apparatus and methods of rinsing and drying silicon wafers or other wafers or thin disc-like substrates or elements in the semiconductor process industry.
2. State of the Art
In the processing of silicon wafers to make semiconductor devices, the wafers are subjected to a myriad of processing steps. It is practical to perform many of these steps on a batch of wafers positioned in a slotted carrier which is often referred to as a boat or as a cassette. The carriers have a plurality of spaced slots on the opposite vertical sides of carriers for receiving the wafers in edgewise, coaxial relation with the wafers being spaced from each other. The carriers have an opening in the bottom of the carrier for access to the bottom side edges of the wafers carried thereby. The top of the carriers are open to allow wafers to be inserted and removed therefrom.
Numerous cleaning, coating and diffusion steps are required in manufacturing semiconductor devices. The industry has been using what is known as a spin rinser/dryer for many years to effect a final spray rinse and spin dry of the silicon wafers. The rinser/dryers are essentially centrifuges which throw water from the wafers and the carriers in which the wafers are contained. Because of the spinning action that occurs in these machines, the silicon wafers are subjected to high stress. In addition, silicon dust is generated and redeposited on the wafers along with other particulate accumulations. The semiconductor industry is moving toward much smaller device geometrics in very large scale integration of making silicon devices, and the particulate accumulation on the smaller device geometries creates tremendous defect problems during the final rinse and dry of the wafers.